Special Hobby Reggiane Re.2000 Falco I, RHAF, 1:48

Started by Csaba · 10 · 2 years ago
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    Csaba said 2 years, 11 months ago:


    Just received my Re.2000 kit from Erik @airbum

    The Re.2000 kit was released in 2020, loosely based on the old Classic airframes kit. Basically, the designers decided to keep the wings, but everything else got a new tool design. In this updated Special Hobby kit no photoetched or resin parts are included.
    However, it seems there was a problem with the wing tools, and they had to design a completely new wing. I received one of those updated kits - let´s see what is in the box.
    The Falco was an Italian, all-metal monoplane fighter, designed shortly before the outbreak of WW2. It was a capable fighter back then, but the quick development of technology made it obsolete within a very short time. The main users were the Swedish and Hungarian air forces, with a few examples used by the Italians.
    This box gives you the option to build one of those exported planes, either with Swedish or Hungarian markings. The Swedish and Hungarian planes were slightly different, the main visible clue was an additional frame on the canopy behind the pilot. The batches were mixed as well, and that´s why a few Hungarian planes were actually from the Swedish batch, with all of the small differences.

    Let´s go through the main parts.

    The new wing
    -the Re.2000 had a lot of small access panels on the bottom side of the wings. These were wrongly shaped and located on the original CA wing, on the updated one the size and shapes are good, but they look aweful. For some reason SH decided to make them protrude from the surface. Ailerons are better than the CA version. Outline matches scale drawings perfectly
    -No rivets at all - the Falco had mixed counter flush and domed rivets all over the wing and fuselage
    -a few small items need to be scratch built, lights, pitot tube, etc

    Fuselage and stabilizers
    -Good surface detail, but no rivets at all. The fuselage was full of domed rivets
    -Fits scale drawings, a few small access panels are missing
    -missing signaling rocket tube need to be scratch built
    -the vertical stabilizer had a 2 degrees pitch to the right - it is correctly shown

    Landing gear
    -looks a bit simple, but a good starting point. Needs braking wires, and checking details around the wheel hub

    Cockpit
    -All essentials are in, except seat belts.
    -Only one version of the seat provided
    -instrument panel is a bit simple
    -additional details can easily be added, for example lot of cables on the side walls, ans also on the control stick
    -no radio provided behind the pilot - check your references, not all planes had one

    Engines and propeller
    -Good base, needs cables
    -Propeller diameter ok, the shape is maybe a bit narrow

    Canopy
    -Original pursuit version, not the Swedish export. Both Hungarian planes were from the Swedish batch, but the kit only provides the original canopy. The missing frame need to be added to the canopy

    Markings
    -Very minimal stencils provided– Hungarian planes were delivered with Italian ones, at least V4+21
    -Large Hungarian markings – better to mask and paint them
    -V4+21, well-documented machine, flown by the son of regent. Originally the tactical bn umbers were all black, but later on the front the last two digits were repainted. The camouflage pattern is close to reality, but not exactly as the original was. Propeller front was bare metal / light gray with probably green patches, only the back was black. Dongo squadron insignia had a sand yellow background, not blue. The green band of the tricolor had different width on the rudder and vertical stabilizer - this was made after a field repair. Many photos and profiles are published in the volume 2 of Hungarian Fighter Colours.
    -V4+52 Not too many photos are known, one photo and color profile are in the volume 2 of Hungarian Figther Colours. The plane seems to be green/blue.

    My plan is to build the V4+21, since it has the best reference material. It was flown by the deputy regent (without digging into the history too much, Hungary was basically a kingdom without a king after WW1). The plane was almost brand new, still wearing its original Italian camouflage. Most probably it was a blue bottom, 3-colored top version, with green and brown patches on a sand base. More about the colors later...
    Istvan Horthy flew 25 missions on the eastern front, with one kill. On his very last mission before his return to the country and politics, he crashed shortly after takeoff. The most probable cause was an accidentally induced spin at low altitude. He did the correct steps to recover the plane but had no chance to get back into a normal flying position because of the low altitude.
    I plan to make the model with full riveting. For dome-headed rivets I might try one of those riveting decals, the other type will be handed by my trusty old riveting wheel. I need to source a seat belt, do something about the instrument panel, and add a few small details, but that´s all.
    I am considering MRP paints, it seems they make proper Italian colors, and everyone is very satisfied with the quality of those paints.

    I could not resist and made a dry fit run - also wanted to compare its size and shape to a distant relative, the P-47 Thunderbolt (both planes share the same roots, the Seversky P-35). Well, the P-47 was a huuuuge plane, the 1:72 version is almost as big as the 1:48 Falco.

    That´s all for today, I will add more details here before the build, as usual.

    5 additional images. Click to enlarge.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 2 years, 11 months ago:

    You surely received a very potent kit of this iconic plane from our friend @airbum, my friend @pikofix!
    Looking forward to it!

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    Anthony Ricco said 2 years, 11 months ago:

    Very nice Csaba, this is going to be an awesome build - incredible research you have done here.

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    Pedro L. Rocha said 2 years, 11 months ago:

    Ahh, Csaba you trigger me to resume my own Regianne 2000 Série I that’s been “sleeping” for several months now…
    Got stuck halfway between riveting and some parts that a rather crude fit. Still you know my opinion about these SH Re.2000 kits, a wonderful subject to paint. I too have MRP Italian paints bought precisely for that purpose.
    Looking forward to see your steps, I’m sure I’ll pick up mine sometime soon next year 🙂

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    Tom Cleaver said 2 years, 11 months ago:

    Nice work on the "Italian Seversky." This is a good kit. You might inspire me to pull out mine.

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    John vd Biggelaar said 2 years, 11 months ago:

    This will be an interesting build, Csaba @pikofix
    It will look great in its Italian scheme.

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    Erik Gjørup said 2 years, 11 months ago:

    Thanks for your well researched initial post on this one. I have to admit the box just went straight to the mailman when I recieved it, so I did not notice the strange inspection hatches in the wing - very unfortunate way of doing them, I should think. Best of luck with the rivets - I have bought some decal rivets to try out on some old Zero's I have in the stash (yep - still want to build those even with the new ones coming from eduard) and shall be eager to see your thoughts on those csaba.

    Have fun with the project - I'm strapped in to follow your progress here @pikofix.

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    Csaba said 2 years, 11 months ago:

    Yes Pedro @holzhamer the fit is far from perfect, but not worse than the kits from my childhood. I built many old Italeri, KP and Revell kits, many of those was much worse than this Re.2000. The level of details is very good, and so far I did not spot any deal breaker inaccuracies there. It is a very tempting project, I might get started with this earlier than I planned. I hope you will also get it out from the box, it is a nice looking plane.

    @anthonyricco - I love digging into details, I believe it makes modeling much more fun. And of course helps us getting more life-like results at the end. 🙂

    Tom, @tcinla one respected member of the local modeling community said: "This is the type of kit everyone buys in the country, and nobody finishes the model. It is an awful kit." I disagree, it is actually a nice kit. Not up to 2021 Tamiya standards, but it would be crazy expecting it from a limited run kit, right?

    John @johnb, Italian schemes are very nice, and also very challenging to paint. I plan to dig into the paint schemes of Italian made RHAF planes as well, it is a messy subject!

    Erik @airbum as far as I know, the new wing is an improvement compared to the original part, even with those terrible access doors. I got a few photos from a friend, building the version with the original wing parts. Let´s say that he has more challenges to solve than I do. 🙂

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    Csaba said 2 years, 11 months ago:

    Here is a short clip from a WW2 news reel. It is obviously an edited and dramatized clip, allegedly the Hungarian Re.2000 fighters are attacking Soviet tanks. The tanks are already knocked out, and are clearly placed in the clip for dramatic purposes. The Re.2000 had no chance knocking out a tank with its two 12,7mm guns.
    The tall pilot, shown repeatedly in the video, is Istvan Horthy, the deputy regent, and pilot of V4+21. The plane is visible for a few seconds.
    (I have no idea what the Russian text means in the description, the clip is from a Hungarian news reel)

    https://youtu.be/KdYPtA387Sk

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    Pedro L. Rocha said 2 years, 11 months ago:

    Csaba, I didn’t meant to imply that the kit has a bad fit, and certainly I don’t subscribe that chaps opinion about the kit being unbuildable either. What I meant is that some parts require a bit of effort to fit flawlessly, nothing our usual elbow grease won’t solve.
    A very nice clip btw